Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself”. This truthful claim of his is why I believe he commissioned the church to preach the gospel of his death, burial and resurrection to the whole world. 

Jesus taught us to do good works that God may be glorified, and to impact the world like salt & light according to Matthew 5:13-16. Doing good lifts up Jesus to the world today.

 In addition to doing good for others, the message of the gospel must flow through us to the world as Jesus taught in Matthew 28:18-20. Peter, another apostle, wrote that we should always be ready to give folks an answer for the hope that is within us, 1st Peter 3:15.

 We have essentially failed in my opinion if we draw folks to the church simply because we are a fine bunch of folks doing a fine bunch of things. We only succeed if our primary goal in doing good, is to lift up Jesus and our desperate need for him because of our sin. 

Jesus’ apostle, Paul, connects the preaching of the gospel with the “manifold wisdom of God” being made know “through the church” in Ephesians 3:8-11. This is what the church must be about while not neglecting any worthy means of mistering to those around us who are in need. As we lift up Jesus, we lift up the manifold wisdom of God. 

God’s appeal is a personal appeal. Our goal should be to make everyone aware of his love for them, as well as their desperate need to resolve their sin problem through the son of God, Jesus. 

Who knows what will happen? We hear little about Andrew, Peter’s brother. It was Andrew, however, who brought Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-42). Peter was the apostle who preached on Pentecost. Peter was the apostle who first preached to the Gentiles. What if the next person you talk to about the Lord will be like Peter? To whom can I “lift up” Jesus today?